Eat the Shadowis a bizarre revenge thriller that blends gritty action, extreme violence, sex and drug use with recurrent psychedelic imagery - setting us up for a wild and unusually twisted adventure.

Fans of Tarantino revenge flicks (i.e. Kill Bill, Django Unchained), crime-horror comics/manga like The Crow and Ichi the Killer, gore, and dark psych thrillers, KEEP READING. We've created this just for you.

*Mature content

THE STORY:

A grindhouse/exploitation film inspired revenge thriller about two brothers, Kenji and Renji, who set off on a bloody rampage against the yakuza’s most vicious syndicate in pursuit of the man who had their family brutally slaughtered. The catch – Kenji is under one hell of a manic trance after ingesting a reckless score of drugs... and Renji, as we quickly find out, already got himself killed. He comes back from the dead to help his brother as a bitter ghost with a cold case of bloodlust.

KENJI (left) – on the night of his 24th birthday, like any young adult with a devil-may-care attitude would, he and his friends indulge in copious amounts of booze and a deathly concoction of psychedelic drugs (lsd, mescaline, amphetamines, opiates…). When he finally stumbles his way home the next morning, Kenji discovers the grotesquely mutilated corpses of his mother and kid sister. While still incredibly inebriated – tripping hard as fuck off his rocker – Kenji is convinced, by his dead brother's ghost, that he has no choice but to avenge his family.

RENJI (right) –recruited by the yakuza at an early age, he quickly became one of the organization’s most prodigious assets. Met with an opportunity to cement his place amongst the upper tier of the organization, Renji spearheads a risky plan to kill and replace the boss of the yakuza’s largest syndicate, an infamously sadistic sadomasochist known simply as "the Barracuda". But when his plan backfires, he incites a cruel fate for himself and his family. Yet somehow – whether he’s an actual ghost, a demon… or simply just one of Kenji’s vividly surreal hallucinations – Renji finds himself back in our world tasked with the sole purpose of helping his brother enact revenge and kill everyone who stands in his way.

While the main action of the book is illustrated in black/white (largely to evoke that same dark, gritty feel you get from comics like Sin City and The Crow), the book will also be riddled with “trippy” sequences that are subsequently drawn in more of a cartoonish, graffiti-esque style, and in full color – naturally.

The idea here is to emphasize the psychedelic nature of Kenji’s hellish trip. This will also allow us to feature: Demons. Dragons. Werewolves. Zombies. Aliens. Monsters. Giant robots. You get the idea… aside from the real world goons he’ll encounter, in his mind Kenji will face off against pretty much any vicious entity you can think of – and perhaps some you haven’t.

With this blend in styles, we're aiming to provide a refreshing new look and feel for the book while also evoking a genuine sense of altered consciousness, giving you (the reader) a truly unique experience.

Anyone who’s had any kind of experience with psychedelics knows it’s not all about the visual, “trippy” aspect. That’s just what’s on the surface. Go deep enough and you'll find yourself immersed in a profound experience that allows you to uncover some really enlightening, albeit potentially terribly frightening shit. Of course, with the right dose or mixture of drugs, you have no choice but to fall deep into the pits of hell. On this particular trip, Kenji is forced to confront some seriously malevolent aspects of his subconscious. Some of the toughest demons he’ll encounter throughout the story will be his own – manifested.

**So now a quick nod about the title – according to Jungian psychology, all the repressed, ugly, undesirable and destructive traits of ourselves that we subconsciously ignore and bury away make up what he described as the “shadow”. We all have huge monsters lurking in our shadows, and the process of uncovering and coming to terms with these aspects of yourself, of mending with them, is referred to as “eating your shadow”.

I hope this brief explanation gives most of you an indication of what we’re really aiming to do with this concept. There’s a much more intricate undertone to the narrative and structure of the story separate from the thrilling action and provocative imagery. In order to fulfill his “destiny” (so to speak) and enact vengeance, Kenji will have to confront some of the darkest, fiercest demons that hide amidst his own shadow. In doing so, he may eventually come to realize he was meant to pursue this bloody vendetta after all… and may have even been waiting for an opportunity like this to unleash the repressed rage and raw power he’d locked away for too long.

WHY ARE WE HERE?

Chapter One (along with a 21 page prologue) is already fully completed. We have tons of exclusive merch set up as well – posters, variant covers, t-shirts, stickers... Even some pretty dope surprises we're currently putting together! All that’s left now is for you to help us breathe some life into this project and help keep the ball rolling. So much has already gone into the production and promotion of ETS #1, all completely self-funded. The $3,000 goal is the absolute bare minimum we need to cover a limited print run (plus reward fulfillment, shipping and fees). This will allow us an opportunity to finally get the book out to conventions, local comic shops, and most important of all… into your hands!

If you like what you see and are curious to learn more, please follow us on Instagram, Facebook and sign up at the top of this page to be notified when our Kickstarter campaign will go live. And of course, it would be equally helpful, if not significantly more so, for you to share this around with any and all you think would dig a refreshing new concept like this!

Thanks for your time! You'll be hearing from us real soon. Til then...